Asylum in the UK

What is the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker?

What are refugees?

A refugee is a person who:

'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country'

No it does not. In 2018 the UK received 29,380 applications from main applicants, 11% more than the previous year. Over the same period, there have been wider falls in asylum applications to other EU countries.

The highest number of first-time asylum applicants in 2018 was registered in Germany (with 161 885 first-time applicants, or 28 % of all applicants in the EU Member States), followed by France (110,485, or 19 %), Greece (64,975, or 11 %), Spain (52,730, or 9 %), Italy (49,165, or 8 %), and the United Kingdom (37,290, or 6 %). These six Member States together account for 76% of all first-time applicants in the EU-28. World-wide around 85% of all refugees are hosted in developing countries not in wealthy industrialised countries.

The UK offered protection – in the form of grants of asylum, alternative forms of protection and resettlement – to 15,891 people in 2018 (up 8% compared with the previous year). Of these, 42% (or 6,628) were children.

According to UNHCR statistics by mid-2018 there were 124,018​refugees, 33,035​ pending asylum cases and 106 stateless persons in the UK.

The vast majority of refugees stay in their region of displacement, and consequently are hosted by developing countries. Turkey now hosts the highest number of refugees with 3.6 million, followed by Pakistan with 1.4 million.

In 2018, the largest number of asylum applications came from nationals of: The top five countries of nationality for asylum applications were Iran (3,327), Iraq (2,697), Eritrea (2,158), Pakistan (2,022) and Albania (2,001).

There is no such thing as a bogus asylum seeker or an illegal asylum seeker. As an asylum seeker, a person has entered into a legal process of refugee status determination. Everybody has a right to seek asylum in another country. People who don't qualify for protection as refugees will not receive refugee status and may be deported, but just because someone doesn't receive refugee status doesn't mean they are a bogus asylum seeker.

Let us remember that a bogus asylum-seeker is not equivalent to a criminal; and that an unsuccessful asylum application is not equivalent to a bogus one - Kofi Annan

What benefits do asylum seekers receive in the UK?

The majority of asylum seekers do not have the right to work in the United Kingdom and so must rely on state support.

Housing is provided, but asylum seekers cannot choose where it is, and it is often ‘hard to let’ properties which Council tenants do not want to live in.

Cash support is available, and is currently set at £37.75 per person, per week, which makes it £5.39 a day for food, sanitation and clothing.

Resettlement is the transfer of refugees from a country where they have initially sought asylum - often in the same region as their country of origin - to a third state which has agreed to admit them. It is a life-changing durable solution for refugees whose life, liberty, health, or human rights are at risk in their country of refuge, or for whom relocating to another country is their only hope of being reunited with their family.

Refugees can be resettled to the UK via the Gateway Protection Programme, the Mandate Scheme, the Vulnerable Children Resettlement Scheme (VCRS), or the Syrian Vulnerable Person's Resettlement Scheme (VPRS).

In 2018, 5,806 people were resettled in the UK, (7% fewer than the previous year), including 4,407 under the VPRS, 688 under the VCRS.

Of those resettled under the VPRS and VCRS in 2018, 130 refugees were resettled in the UK through the Community Sponsorship scheme. Since the scheme began in July 2016, 219 refugees have been resettled by community sponsor groups.

Subsidiary protection can be given to people who do not meet the 1951 Convention’s legal definition of a refugee but are still in need of international protection.

Across the EU, the Qualification Directive provides subsidiary protection for those facing the following threats if returned to their country: (1) the death penalty or execution; (2) torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or (3) threats from an international or internal armed conflict.

The UK uses the legal term humanitarian protection to meet this Directive. Applicants can also be given 'discretionary leave to remain', a form of temporary permission which is unlikely to be more than three years.

Can refugees reunite with their families in the UK?

Yes. In certain circumstances refugees in the UK are permitted to reunite with family members who are living elsewhere.

In 2018, 5,806 Family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK (up 13%).

However, current rules are restrictive for refugees applying to reunite with family members in the UK. This is due to a narrow definition of who qualifies as a family member, restrictions on refugee children being able to reunite with their parents, and a lack of legal support for refugee family reunion applications.